Hollywood, Still Dreaming Big, Plans Massive Expansions

Thanks to technological innovations in the past decade, film making has become increasingly decentralized and going to the movies is no longer the go-to entertainment option. Still, Hollywood is dreaming as big as ever and several movie studios are set to begin massive expansion projects. "Disney, NBCUniversal and Paramount all have large, long-term expansion plans on the books. The construction would follow recent face-lifts and incremental growth on and near the lots owned by the three other major studios—Fox, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Brothers."

What's the Big Idea?

Because there is no overriding upward trend in the film industry, each of the studio's plans operates using a different logic. But the companies that have long dominated the film making industry aren't going to give it up without a fight. "Ed Duffy, a business agent for Teamsters Local 399, speculated that studios might expect to fill their new space with a flurry of small films, Web productions and reality shows—the sort of thing that normally does not create much work for the Hollywood unions." Corinne Verdery, NBCUniversal’s chief real estate development and planning officer, said: "We’re going to give it everything we have to keep production here."